<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418894/rclduqx5yysvy9a6buzi.png"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oldtownartfair.org">New this year, pre-registration will be required for entry to the Fair and will open Saturday, May 8 at&nbsp;10 AM.</a>&nbsp;CGN Staff via PRWe just heard today that the Old Town Art Fair and its sponsoring organization, the Old Town Triangle Association, plan to host an in-person event this coming June after cancelling the 2020 edition due to COVID-19, the first time the fair had to miss a year in 70 years.&nbsp;Last spring the fair and association looked ahead to an unpredictable summer and opted to return booth fees to the 250 participating artists and automatically invite all 2020 jury-selected artists to take part, they hoped, in the 2021 fair. As a result no new applications were accepted for this year.Now those plans for a re-do are happening. Organizers celebrated the announcement from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and DCASE that OTAF will return during the second weekend in June. The announcement recognized “the thoughtful application and adherence to city and state guidelines for re-opening.” Art Fair Chair Anne Giffels noted that more than 200 artists have confirmed their participation and are looking forward to returning to Old Town. Numerous visitors are also making plans to visit, after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 shutdown. “We are thrilled to share this great news with the many neighbors and visitors who have contacted us about planning their trip to Chicago. We receive messages daily, asking us if the Fair is a certainty and wondering when they can pre-register and make plans for the Art Fair. The Old Town Art Fair is a destination for the people of Chicago as well as out-of-town visitors and we are happy to welcome them.” Safety measures for the 2021 Art Fair include a larger footprint for adequate room to move around as well as to accommodate spaced artist booths, plus &nbsp;other measures that are standard practice by now. There will also be additional space for food vendors. The OTAF suggests a $12 donation to allow the Old Town Triangle to continue funding for multiple organizations throughout Chicago. Proceeds from the Art Fair are given to the community through grants to schools, charities, and other non-profit organizations. The OTAF is juried by local art professionals, curators, gallery owners, and artists and is offered by the Old Town Triangle Association, a 501(c)(3) Illinois corporation. First mounted in 1949 as the Old Town Holiday Arts &amp; Crafts Fair, the OTAF brings fine art to the tree-covered streets of Chicago’s Old Town Triangle neighborhood. Until 2020, it had been held continuously since its first offerings (on the fences of homes).&nbsp;In-person fairs have yet to make a solid return to Chicago yet, but this week has brought news from City Hall about attempts at loosening regulations and opening up the city in time for summer. The Hyde-Park based 57th Street Art Fair, the city's oldest, announced that it will be virtual now through May 2022. Other neighborhood fairs in the city and suburbs are bound to make a reentry plan in 2021.&nbsp;International expositions like Intersect Chicago (formerly SOFA) and EXPO CHICAGO plan to return in late 2021 (Intersect) and spring 2022 (EXPO).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Old Town Art Fair Will Return for 2021 on June 12

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418894/pwucyv9ktljitq5qyhiz.jpg"><figcaption>Balloon Girl, Courtesy of The Art of Banksy</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.theartofbanksy.com">Banksy Comes to Chicago... Sort of.</a>The Art of Banksy, the largest touring exhibition of authentic Banksy art works in the world, announced that it will open July 1 in Chicago. Hosted in a yet-to-be-disclosed location in the West Loop The Art of Banksy will feature 80 authenticated and certified original Banksy works from collectors across the globe, offering the public a rare opportunity to view art that is now privately held.&nbsp;The Art of Banksy is not authorized or curated in collaboration with the artist, but rather sourced from private collections. The exhibition features many of Banksy’s most recognizable images, including Flower Thrower, Rude Copper and Girl with Balloon, famously shredded at auction in 2018. The canvasses, screen prints, sculptures, one-off and limited-edition pieces on display date between 1997 and 2008. Banksy, whose identity is the art world’s biggest secret, is an enigmatic artist and world-recognized political activist. <a href="https://www.theartofbanksy.com">Tickets to see the works</a> – which normally you would once pass on the street for free – will go on sale at 9 a.m. May 6 and start at $39.99 ($29.99 for under 16.)&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418895/p4zsxvftoin7ad6izhvj.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.terraamericanart.org/home/grantees-announced-re-envisioning-permanent-collections/">Terra Foundation awards 35&nbsp;grants to&nbsp;US&nbsp;arts and culture&nbsp;organizations for permanent collection projects</a>The Terra Foundation for American Art is pleased to announce the awarding of nearly $2.5 million in grants to 35 arts and cultural organizations across 30 cities&nbsp;in the United States. These grants support projects through the foundation’s new two-year exhibition grant initiative,&nbsp;Re-envisioning Permanent Collections: An Initiative for US Museums. The Terra Foundation established this grant initiative to encourage museums to delve more deeply into their collections to reveal a fuller multiplicity of artworks and voices that have shaped, in the past and up through the present, the artistic and cultural heritage of the US.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org/fair-canceled">57th Street Art Fair Announces It Will Take Place Virtually, Not In-Person as Hoped</a>The 57th Street Art Fair Committee announced they have made a final decision regarding the possibility of holding a scaled-down physical fair in June, 2021.&nbsp; Sadly, after much deliberation, they regretted that this will not be possible.There were many considerations behind this difficult decision, but the primary concern was for the health and safety of our artists, visitors, volunteers and community.&nbsp; And in the end, time and cost to implement a safely modified in-person event became insurmountable factors. &nbsp;Without the city permit and permission from CPS, and with only a month to go before the early June fair date, there will not enough time to implement any of the plans considered for 2021’s 74th Annual 57th Street Art Fair.&nbsp; The Committee felt they had no choice but to cancel this year’s physical event, and focus on the currently ongoing <a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org/virtual-fair">2021 57th Street Art Fair virtual event</a>, which is live through May 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 5/5

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418894/ghpdf0ipryjdifonjwkz.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/yannis-tsarouchis-dancing-in-real-life">Yannis Tsarouchis: Dancing in Real Life</a>May 7 – Jul 31Wrightwood 659Wrightwood 659 hosts the&nbsp;first U.S. exhibition devoted to&nbsp;the work of Yannis&nbsp;Tsarouchis&nbsp;(1910–1989), widely regarded as one of the greatest Greek painters of the 20th century. On view May 7–July 31, 2021, the exhibition will feature some 200 works, including paintings and works on paper from public and private collections in Greece and internationally. Together, these span the entire arc of the artist’s career, showing how he absorbed and transformed influences including Ancient Greek and Early Christian art; Byzantine mosaics, frescoes, and icon painting; Greek vernacular traditions: costume, ornament and shadow theater Karaghiozis; and also the new languages of modern art: Fauvism, Cubism, and Surrealism.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418895/myp3opobkxz0dbpfd141.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/juan-arango-palacios-payasadas">Juan Arango Palacios: Payasadas</a>Opening: Friday, May 7, 2021 6 – 9&nbsp;pmEpiphany Center for the ArtsJuan Arango Palacios presents a new series of large-scale textile drawings that address the artist’s relationship to the Catholic church. These works critique religious archetypes and offer a personification of a queer narrative, exploring themes of fantasy, vulnerability, and performativity.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418895/jrn75jxzkpbjbxgu8ssq.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ephemera-the-power-of-impermanence">Ephemera: The Power of Impermanence</a>May 7 – Jun 12 • Artist Reception: May 21, 5:30 (TBD: Zoom or Outdoor Weather Permitting)The Art Center Highland ParkThe Art Center Highland Park (TAC) is looking forward to bringing the community together for an ‘alive and well’ art experience. For the last year, they have been extending work outwards into the community, from virtual exhibits to art in their city-wide storefront windows. Now, TACHP invites artists to fill the center's walls (and floors) with the many ephemeral art processes that span the range of impermanence.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418896/zu43zfd2dutcvzzayrmg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/rebecca-gray-smith-alphabet-numbers-the-pandemic-prints">Rebecca Gray Smith | Alphabet &amp; Numbers: The Pandemic Prints</a>May 8 – Jun 18. Opening Reception: Saturday May 8, 2-5 pm | RSVP requiredBert Green Fine ArtRebecca Gray Smith explores the presence of death in all human endeavors, using traditional signifiers of mortality such as the skeleton as a primary actor and subject. Each letter or number plate corresponds to a specific fatal activity or malady, highlighting the act of existence as a high risk activity fraught with peril. The artist examines how the Medusa of Death stalks us all, in all walks of life, while at the same time looking at the capriciousness inherent in the present: the absurdities, cruelties, and horrors of modern existence. The history of printmaking is elemental in the helix of human civilization, a taproot reaching back to the prehistoric dawn of mankind.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418897/pxcfvqzlksqm7gz5hq9n.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/opening-reception-for-kurt-kramer">Kurt Kramer</a>Thru May 30. Opening: Saturday, May 8, 2021 5 – 7&nbsp;pmPerspective Group + Photography Gallery, Ltd.While somewhat house-bound and experimenting this past summer, Kurt Kramer decided to print a few photographs on watercolor paper. He loved the retro look and decided to use it as the basis for this collection titled "Retrographs." For this exhibition, Kramer has drawn from images he has made over the past 22 years. He attributes his search for an old-fashioned sensibility partly to Perspective Gallery member Suzanne Metzel’s December 2019 exhibit of photogravure images.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418898/l3nqsd4jetoi80prwhdm.jpg"><figcaption>RIVA LEHRER</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/dis">DIS-</a>May 8 – Jun 26 • Opening: Saturday, May 8, 2021 12 – 5&nbsp;pmChicago Printmakers CollaborativeAn exhibition featuring artists who self identify as having a disability.&nbsp;Curated by Matt BodettArtists: Bri Beck, Justin Cooper, Timotheus “TJ” Gordon Jr., Riva Lehrer, Katie O’Neil, Reveca Torres, and Sandie Yi&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start May 7-8

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEAWhen we shared an update about the upcoming 5th edition of <a href="https://www.sculpturemilwaukee.com">Sculpture Milwaukee</a> back in February, plans were just beginning to be shared with the public. Now as summer feels like it's almost here – we're ready for anything happening outdoors not to mention as much public art as we can handle – the annual outdoor exhibition of public sculpture in the city's downtown has shared the roster of artists who are going to make it happen as well as an exhibition title chosen by co-curators Theaster Gates and Michelle Grabner.&nbsp;Sculpture Milwaukee launches next month and has an extended run this time, concluding in fall 2022. The exhibition has become one of the largest annual outdoor exhibitions to focus on​ ​contemporary sculpture and public art practices.&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417624/ycfki1ci36fphmbyswxe.webp"></figure>there is this We, the title chosen by guest curators Gates and Grabner, refers to what perhaps can happen through collective creativity after a year largely spent apart, particularly at a time when artists are looking to the future and expressing their visions for change. The exhibition features exhibiting artists Kevin Beasley, Betty Gold, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Allison Janae Hamilton, Kara Hamilton, Brad Kahlhamer, Deborah Kass, Thaddeus Mosley, Matthias Neumann, Virginia Overton, Dan Peterman, Jason Pickleman, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, John Riepenhoff, Christine Tarkowski, and Lauren Yeager.The exhibition will feature newly fabricated works by eight artists, including those by SMKE’s inaugural Guest Artist Lauren Yeager, the first large-scale sculpture by Jason Pickleman, and the debut of a new cast bronze work by Thaddeus Mosley.Of the exhibition, Grabner says:“The poetics of perseverance and determination vibrate in the art that Theaster and I have selected. There are exciting and palpable energies at work in these sculptures; we feel it in the sonic reverberations of Kevin Beasley's acoustic mirrors, in the foliage quietly growing in the bed of Virginia Overton's pick-up truck, and in the rattling cry of the tambourines that comprise Allison Janae Hamilton's tower. The exhibition's title reflects the collective power of the works included in the 2021 exhibition, and honors a belief in social change through the provocations of the artistic imagination."Sculpture Milwaukee has also rolled out a membership program. They state on their website that in order to bring an exhibition of world class art to Milwaukee each year, they rely on public support. Sculpture MKE memberships support the exhibitions, programming, and community engagement in place while also offering subscribers new opportunities to discover and experience Milwaukee. Individual memberships cost $29 and include sculpture tours with SMKE's expert team, partners, and artists, discounts on Sculpture MKE Merchandise, special offers from partners, and a digital exhibition catalogue. Business memberships start at $2,500.&nbsp;Illinois has classified Wisconsin as a 'yellow state' as far as COVID statistics are concerned, the city's downtown hotels have reopened, and a day or weekend trip to Milwaukee in the coming months is an ideal chance to see new public art outside of Chicago by artists known around the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417625/zauqgnqkk7yrpbtp4tex.png"><figcaption>Tony Tasset | Blob Monster | 2010, fiberglass | 96 x 96 x 96 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago. Part of Sculpture Milwaukee 2020</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Guest CuratorsTheaster Gates is a Chicago-based artist and curator whose practice encompasses sculpture, performance, and land development-based projects. His work has been widely exhibited in museums, galleries, and biennials nationally and internationally, including recent solo exhibitions at Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago and Gagosian Gallery, New York.Michelle Grabner is a Wisconsin-based artist, writer, and curator. She co-curated the 2014 Whitney Biennial and was named a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow. Her work has been the subject of several national museum surveys. She is presently represented by James Cohan, New York and Green Gallery, Milwaukee.Sculpture MilwaukeeSculpture Milwaukee is an annual outdoor exhibition of public sculpture in downtown Milwaukee that serves as a catalyst for community engagement, economic development, and creative placemaking. Sculpture Milwaukee is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization funded through private grants, in-kind donations, and sponsorships. ​All of the artworks are available for purchase.<a href="https://www.sculpturemilwaukee.com">sculpturemilwaukee.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Sculpture Milwaukee Announces 2021 Participating Artists Ahead of Next Month's Opening

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418887/chqveuqdovzqvnct8qt8.jpg"></figure><a href="https://nublockmuseum.blog/2021/04/23/outdoor-exhibition-behold-be-held-celebrates-the-power-of-community-and-connection/?mc_cid=a66c729a40&amp;mc_eid=64540e863b">Block Museum of Art Opens Outdoor Exhibition</a>In Fall 2020, as the Block Museum of Art's galleries remained closed to visitors due to the pandemic, staff opted to think imaginatively about engaging visitors through the permanent collection. While the past year has altered so much in our lives, it has also highlighted how art remains a vital window into our feelings and experiences. Behold, Be Held uses the facades of The Block, the neighboring Ethel M. Barber Theater, and the building of their community partner Youth &amp; Opportunity United (Y.O.U.) as an outdoor gallery. Reproductions of artworks from the Block Museum collection invite visitors to reflect on how art holds us through moments of crisis. These works capture gestures that we may have taken for granted prior to the pandemic, but we have missed dearly. The selection of works was guided by themes of self-care, self-authorship, and community. It also explores how subtle moments with others prepare and carry us on our journeys. On view through August 22, 2022&nbsp;<a href="https://exhibitcolumbus.org/?mc_cid=a27b4b186c&amp;mc_eid=f1e3638334">Exhibit Columbus to Highlight Indiana Town's Unique Place in the Architecture World</a>August 21 the third <a href="https://landmarkcolumbus.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df84ab7cdcbf760c8a4c43ae9&amp;id=5703a474d6&amp;e=f1e3638334">Exhibit Columbus </a>exhibition will open, featuring 13 outdoor, site-responsive installations by a diversity of architects, artists, and designers, publicly displayed photography, and a fresh graphic identity and wayfinding system. The installations celebrate the relationships between the built environment and the people and other species that inhabit it, in dialogue with iconic buildings, streetscapes, and landscapes around Columbus, Indiana. The theme of this third Exhibit Columbus is <a href="https://landmarkcolumbus.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df84ab7cdcbf760c8a4c43ae9&amp;id=ae3aa01153&amp;e=f1e3638334">New Middles: From Main Street to Megalopolis, What Is the Future of the Middle City?</a> Curated by Iker Gil and Mimi Zeiger, New Middles explores the future of the center of the United States.&nbsp;<a href="https://one.bidpal.net/cpslives/welcome">CPS Lives Hosting First Online Fundraiser and Art Auction</a>CPS Lives' first online fundraiser is May 5. They will be auctioning off some amazing items each day and will close it out with a&nbsp;Zoom panel discussion on May 12th at 6PM.&nbsp;New items are added daily and there is also a raffle. <a href="https://one.bidpal.net/cpslives/welcome">Preview artist works online</a> and stay tuned for more updates.&nbsp;CPS Lives is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization that pairs Chicago artists, designers, thinkers and makers with a Chicago Public School during the academic year to collaborate on a project, sharing the unique and individual story of each Chicago Public School. &nbsp;Each story will be celebrated and exhibited throughout the city in local Chicago Public Library branches and other exhibition spaces, as well as existing on the CPS Lives social media and website as an accessible digital archive of public school history for students, families, community members, educators, administrators, policymakers &amp; the general public.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 5/3

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418887/ay3b0wdah4hal35zhpjy.webp"><figcaption>“Kerry and Cheryl I,” 1993. In these larger format Polaroid works in the early ’90s, Bey photographed friends and members of his artistic community, including Kerry James Marshall and Cheryl Lynn Bruce.Credit...Dawoud Bey/Rennie Collection Via NYT</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/arts/design/dawoud-bey-whitney-museum-review.html?referringSource=articleShare">A Photographer Looks Deep Into America’s Past</a>Before he became a photographer, Dawoud Bey trained as a jazz percussionist, looking to John Coltrane as a role model for melding craft with a commitment to social justice. As a teenager in the 1960s, Bey was finely attuned to the social and political upheavals of the civil rights movement, staging sit-ins and demonstrations with his high school classmates and joining the Black Panther Party, whose newspaper he sold on the weekends. By 1968, the struggle for racial equality was converging with demonstrations against the war in Vietnam and the early stages of women’s liberation, forming a pattern of transformation and upheaval that culminated with the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Via NY Times&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/eli-broad-obituary-1963834?utm_content=from_&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US%2010%20a.m.%20newsletter%20for%205%2F3%2F21&amp;utm_term=US%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BMORNING%5D">Eli Broad, the Proudly ‘Unreasonable’ Art Collector Who Changed the Cultural Landscape of Los Angeles, Dies at 87</a>Billionaire art collector, philanthropist, and entrepreneur Eli Broad—a towering figure in the cultural scene of the United States, and most of all, in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles—has died at 87. His reign culminated with the founding of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thebroad.org/">Broad</a>, a contemporary art museum showcasing the collection he and his wife, Edythe Broad, built together, which opened in 2015.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/ryan-ori/ct-biz-randolph-street-market-second-lost-summer-chicago-ryan-ori-20210430-xvsk4adt2zakjpip2ftanas4qi-story.html">Randolph Street Market is back — but this summer, it’s not on Randolph Street. It’s not even in Chicago.</a>After losing last summer to a pandemic, anyone itching to browse the wares offered by vendors at Chicago’s longstanding Randolph Street Market will have to make a road trip.The reason why boils down to one word synonymous with the Fulton Market district these days: construction.The 18-year-old market is moving to Three Oaks, Michigan, for the next few months while its Chicago home, the Plumbers Hall at 1341 W. Randolph St., becomes a construction zone.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/black-creativity-museum-of-science-and-industry/Content?oid=88316675">Black creatives never stopped creating</a>&nbsp;At this year's "Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition," [at the <a href="https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/black-creativity-juried-art-exhibition/">Museum of Science and Industry</a>] two works by artist Lexus Giles—titled She's Healed and She is Me—invite visitors into the gallery that houses much of the exhibition's sculptures."I'm a storyteller," Giles says. "Those busts came from a poem [I wrote] called 'Tribulations of a Black Woman,' and there are actually three other pieces along with it that kind of broke down that poem."Via Chicago Reader&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: May 3

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418887/o6fhj4djxr8d1ub2os2h.jpg"></figure><a href="LoopChicago.com/SundaysOnState">Sundays On State This Summer&nbsp;</a>Chicago Loop Alliance is launching an ambitious open streets project called Sundays on State that would see parts of State Street in the Loop closed to vehicle traffic for up to 12 Sundays this summer. The organization is inviting members of the community to get involved and share their ideas.In an effort to bring people safely back to the Loop, Chicago Loop Alliance will transform State Street from Madison to Lake into an open street on Sundays beginning July 11. For up to 12 Sundays, Chicago Loop Alliance will close this portion of the street to vehicle traffic to give pedestrians a chance to experience arts and culture, active recreation, retail, restaurants and bars against the backdrop of State Street’s iconic architecture. The closures will last from 7 a.m.-11 p.m., and the event itself will take place from 11 a.m.-8 p.m.&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org/current_edition/contributors?mc_cid=9a1836633f&amp;mc_eid=a673b99cd7">The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB)&nbsp; announced the initial list of contributors</a>The CAB announced the initial list of 29 contributors bring global design perspectives from cities around the world such as Cape Town, Caracas, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dublin, Paris, Basel, Tokyo, and more.&nbsp; For the 2021 edition, Brown has paired teams of&nbsp;global designers and Chicago community groups&nbsp;together to explore imaginative uses of vacant spaces in the city. Each pairing will respond to critical issues such as health, sustainability, equity, and racial justice.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spudnikpress.org/event/the-hashbrown-re-hash-virtual-event-cookbook-launch/">Spudnik Press Cooperative is &nbsp;hosting The Hashbrown Rehash: Virtual Event and Cookbook Launch May 7</a>For the first time in “Hashbrown history,” Spudnik Press is moving their popular party into home kitchens with an exciting virtual event and a commemorative cookbook!Please join Spudnik as they continue to celebrate our tradition of enjoying food while raising funds for arts education and accessible printmaking.&nbsp;<a href="https://dnyuz.com/2021/04/29/new-david-hockney-billboards-to-brighten-4-cities-in-may/">New David Hockney Billboards to Brighten 4 Cities in May</a>Two suns will appear in four cities during the month of May — the real sun in the sky, of course, but also the chrysanthemum-like depiction of it in a video by the British artist <a href="https://www.hockney.com/home">David Hockney</a>. The 2½-minute animation will be broadcast on digital billboards in Times Square in New York and prominent locations in London, Tokyo and Seoul.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 4/29

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418887/o0flruxy8rsfzse3vemm.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/just-above-my-wall-to-the-right">Just Above My Wall, (To The Right)</a>Opening: Saturday, May 1, noon – 3&nbsp;pmSouth Side Community Art CenterDuring a time when Black artists and their work is in high demand, McKissick chose to highlight Black collectors who are invested in the preservation of Black art, much like the South Side Community Art Center’s mission and legacy. Collector, Tracie Hall, describes her collection as “living with the ancestors.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418888/gzybvq9p312e7sbobhpw.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/flower-power">Flower Power</a>Opening: Saturday, May 1, 2 – 4&nbsp;pmVale Craft GalleryVale Craft Gallery welcomes spring with a group exhibition of artwork with the theme of flowers by Chicago area artists.&nbsp; Discover colorful paintings, sculptures, and functional ceramics to lift your mood and brighten your home decor.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418889/qgwn5euwxe53tebjbmvt.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/color-splurge">Color Splurge</a>Opening: Saturday, May 1, 1 – 4&nbsp;pmHofheimer GalleryMauricio Ramirez's&nbsp;artwork is a contribution to the community; frequently a cultural icon that transcends rich intersecting historical and popular culture references that speak to the complex diaspora of the United States. The visibility of culture can lead to not only the growth of confidence, but also care within our communities.Sheri Rush's work responds to the global pandemic by exploring the relationship of personal history, landscape, the digital image and recollection.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418889/o4st4awl5wq9hdslvrnc.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/shan-wallace-erin-mitchell-duo-show-won-t-you-celebrate-with-me">Shan Wallace &amp; Erin Mitchell Duo Show: won’t you celebrate with me</a>May 1 – June 27FLXST ContemporaryIn this duo exhibition of two emerging contemporary Black women artists, there is a generative connection to Marx's "poetry about the future" to renowned Black poet Lucille Clifton's poem "wont you celebrate with me” that speaks to a racial and gendered self and the shaping of lives to these experiences.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418890/fzdpyjvsqurabzawlv4n.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/louis-masai-meat-my-friends">Louis Masai: MEAT my Friends</a>Opening: Saturday, May 1, 11&nbsp;am – 6&nbsp;pmVertical GalleryThis one-of-a-kind exhibit also features a custom-built chicken-coop installation titled ‘What came first?’ complete with webcam-enabled, remote-control chickens — developed by Louis in collaboration with artist and creative engineer RoboJ — letting viewers experience the show and explore the gallery setting in real time from the comforts of home.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418891/gdxsfjr0crzuxsh9qgmx.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/jeanette-may-s-tech-vanitas">Jeanette May’s: Tech Vanitas</a>Opening: Saturday, May 1, 4 – 5&nbsp;pmARC GalleryJeanette May’s “Tech Vanitas” photographs embrace anxiety over new technology and love for beautifully designed, obsolete machines. Her still lifes suggest 17th Century Dutch vanitas paintings with their air of craft guilds, international trade, and personal wealth. Her carefully disheveled arrangements of familiar devices also allude to product photography and advertising. “Tech Vanitas” examines the present and the past of technology with a sense of wonder and trepidation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418892/haxcixmhgsiwnv4sygig.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/cat-crotchet-tethered">Cat Crotchet: Tethered</a>Opening: Saturday, May 1, 2 – 6&nbsp;pmAddington GalleryCat Crotchet is an innovative practitioner of pattern-based abstract painting. Using the medium of wax and pigment (encaustic painting), Cat's visual vocabulary includes stenciled shapes, layered patterns, and burned-in texture accomplished using heated metal much like a branding iron. Cat uses a bold but sophisticated color sense to engage the eye, and creates a sense of complexity through built up textures and layering.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418893/kduxwsidwssx395m35zi.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/before-during-after-new-works-by-janis-pozzi-johnson">BEFORE DURING AFTER –&nbsp;New works by Janis Pozzi-Johnson</a>Opening: Saturday, May 1, 1 – 4&nbsp;pmMcCormick Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start May 1st

<html><head></head><body><a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/armory-show-2021-exhibitor-list-1234590820/?fbclid=IwAR3ld2RAZkC4oEVhl3XQuks0Q58uX-FmU_CrhYixtnTxBIl3A_BsVRYU-vs">With Numbers on Par with 2020 Edition, Armory Show Names Galleries for In-Person 2021&nbsp;Fair</a>As large-scale, in-person events begin to resume in the United States, the Armory Show in New York, one of the country’s biggest art fairs, said it plans to gather together 195 exhibitors at its new home, the Javits Center. The fair is due to take place from September 9–12, 2021.Participants from Chicago include: Kavi Gupta, Rhona Hoffman, Mariane Ibrahim, Monique Meloche, Carrie Secrist, DOCUMENT and PATRONVia Artnews&nbsp;<a href="https://rivernorthdesigndistrict.com/designers/">The River North Design District Gallery Walk is Planned for September 2021</a>The River North Design District (RNDD) is proud to announce the 6th Annual River North Design District Fall Gallery Walk on Friday, September 10th, 2021. This year showrooms will feature a variety of fine artists and designer vignettes along with special events throughout River North.Each participating showroom and art gallery will be exhibiting artwork created by artists working today. This year Chicago’s top designers will be selecting their favorite art and creating inspirational vignettes in each of the participating showrooms.The 2021 lineup begins with a VIP kickoff party at Calia Stone Boutique at 5:30pm featuring design vignette and work curated by Yamini Designs and Interiors by Francesca. Headline artist is Linc Thelen also featuring art from philanthropic partner Aspire Art360. The walk concludes with an after party hosted by 210 Design House and PROjECT. interiors with artist Pat Sansone and philanthropic partner Digs with Dignity from 8-10pm. Participating showrooms include TOTO, 210 Design House, ARMAZEM.design, Artists Frame Service, Bulthaup, Daltile, Kohler Signature Store, Studio 41, eggersmann, Orizzonti, Ligne Roset, Oscar Isberian, Calia Stone Boutique, Roca and Chicago Luxury Beds. Information on special events in showrooms to follow.&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagoartistscoalition.org/resources/cac-grants/coney-family-fund?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Chicago%20Artists%20Coalition%20Announces%20Additional%20CONEY%20Grant%20for%202021&amp;utm_content=Chicago%20Artists%20Coalition%20Announces%20Additional%20CONEY%20Grant%20for%202021+CID_3be9e3e1243c7869a48d83f0e539fd87&amp;utm_source=campaign%20monitor&amp;utm_term=here">Chicago Artists Coalition Announces Another Coney Family Fund Award</a>Since 2017, CAC and the Coney Family have&nbsp;annually awarded one unrestricted grant of $5,000 to an outstanding visual artist&nbsp;in the city of Chicago who identifies as Black or African-American. Now in its fifth year, the prestigious and highly competitive Coney Family Fund will award two unrestricted grant of $5,000 each providing more direct support to Chicago artists.CAC will celebrate the two awardees for the Coney Family Fund during CAC's virtual benefit, WORK IN PROGRESS on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;Application&nbsp;for the Coney Family Fund Award program&nbsp;opens on&nbsp;April&nbsp;26, 2021&nbsp;and more information about the program can be found <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-mkyyda-dlvzir-r/">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artprize.org/for-artists/details#artists-artist-registration">ArtPrize Registation Open</a><a href="https://artprize.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=568226b22d477264c2318619f&amp;id=681db95e4e&amp;e=4296d6b5b0">Artist registration</a> opened on Monday, April 19, 2021 for the eleventh iteration of ArtPrize, to take place in Grand Rapids, Michigan from September 16-October 3, 2021. Anyone over 18, working in any medium, from any place on earth is invited to enter their artwork into one of the world’s largest art competitions and to seek cash prizes totaling $250,000.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418887/rl1dyuwhpi2pvyxehjm7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/237-E-Delaware-Pl-60611/unit-6B/home/174332419">237 E DELAWARE Pl Unit 6B - Art Filled for Sale @ $835K</a>Warning - this price is probably too good to be true in the era of bidding wars, but check out the interior photos to see works spotted by Dzine, as well as many objects that look like they may have come from SOFAVia Redfin/Sotheby's RE&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 4/27/21

<a href="https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/924184?fbclid=IwAR1H0LyxlrWhk4f-IfhyBfQtUITZmJpBjlCL0Pw0lGN9QUeLyrz01KS-74w">Illinois sculpture park in the running to be named No. 1 in the country</a>One of the nation's foremost collections of outdoor art is just 30 miles south of Chicago on the campus of Governors State University, and it's now in the running to be named the top sculptural park in the country.Via FOX 32&nbsp;<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment-and-culture/2021/4/20/22393862/chicago-arts-77-artists-grants-recovery-reopening-program?fbclid=IwAR0IEd7wbdEvjA8D93tOnN3HfW7GodHWfUyjZoZ7agUeX8CkXinwbYa2VI4">Chicago to spend $60 million to boost arts, artists</a>Chicago plans to spend at least $60 million to boost the arts and local artists citywide.The Arts 77 recovery and reopening program will focus on employing creative workers through city services and programs; increase public sector investments in the arts through financing and cultural policy; and expand involvement in the creative and cultural sector across the city’s 77 community areas.Via Chicago Sun Times&nbsp;<a href="https://rejournals.com/urban-infill-means-more-than-e-commerce-and-sometimes-public-art/">There’s more to urban infill than e-commerce—sometimes there’s public art</a>When Amazon announced plans to acquire a 70-acre site on Chicago’s Southwest Side for a future warehouse and distribution facility, the news underscored growing urban infill industrial demand. Creative developers and investors are navigating the complexity to bring urban infill projects to fruition for a diverse range of users. &nbsp;Via RE Journals&nbsp;<a href="https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/2126-N-Lincoln-Park-W-60614/home/12698037?utm_source=myredfin&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=recommendations_update&amp;riftinfo=ZXY9ZW1haWwmbD00NTg1OTA2MiZwPWxpc3RpbmdfdXBkYXRlc19yZWNvbW1lbmRhdGlvbnMmYT1jbGljayZzPXJlY29tbWVuZGF0aW9ucyZ0PWltYWdlJmVtYWlsX2lkPTQ1ODU5MDYyXzE2MTkwMTc0MzJfNiZ1cGRhdGVfdHlwZT05JmxpbHJfc2NvcmU9MC40NDk1Jmxpc3RpbmdfaWQ9MTMxMDg3MTM5JnByb3BlcnR5X2lkPTEyNjk4MDM3JnBvc2l0aW9uX251bWJlcj01">Design-Y Penthouse For Sale at 2126 N Lincoln Park West for $4 mil.</a>Check out the view, and the kitchen...Via @properties&nbsp;

What We're Reading: 4/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418232/bm4bo3rx2dvacmbdnfv7.png"><figcaption>The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCASE) accounted they are beginning a one year renovation of the Chicago Cultural Center's Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Memorial Hall and Rotunda. (Provided by DCASE)</figcaption></figure>Via PRCHICAGO, IL — Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) today announced the historic restoration of the landmark Chicago Cultural Center to reclaim two lost interiors decorated by the celebrated Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company: the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R) Memorial Hall and Rotunda. The museum-quality restoration of the art glass dome and decorative finishes is made possible by a generous grant of services valued at $15,425,000 to the City of Chicago. (The Chicago Cultural Center is home to two magnificent stained-glass domes; the restoration of the Tiffany dome in Preston Bradley Hall was completed in 2008.) The celebrated “People’s Palace” will reopen to the public on June 2, 2021, after closing its doors last March — with new health and safety protocols to be announced soon, new art exhibitions and new visitor amenities. Restoration work will continue until early 2022.“Throughout the pandemic, our residents and partners in the public and private sector have remained generous supporters of our cultural institutions,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “Thanks to their support and this incredible grant, we will be able to restore and revitalize our landmark Cultural Center — which remains critical to our tourism and recovery efforts and our ability to bring our creative community together.”The grant (the largest private donation given to DCASE) provides access to a highly specialized team that are uniquely qualified to undertake the restoration. An intricate process will expose the original 1890s surfaces by methodically separating layers of paint. The project also includes the conservation of a 40-foot diameter, 62,000-piece, art glass dome that will return natural light that has been blocked since a renovation in the 1930s. Long-lost lighting fixtures that were custom designed for the rooms will be recreated using early photographs and original architectural drawings.“With its sparkling mosaics and hovering art glass dome, the Chicago Cultural Center's Preston Bradley Hall has been a must-see attraction for decades. But it’s about to get some stiff competition when restoration of the G.A.R. rooms is completed next year,” said Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian Emeritus for the City of Chicago.“This project reminds me of hunting for buried treasure. Instead of being buried under the ground, it’s a treasure of Tiffany coloration buried beneath layers of paint — and just waiting to be revealed in all its 1890s glory. This is no ordinary preservation project. It’s an undertaking beyond belief, assembling the absolute top talents in historic restoration to revive one of the great lost treasures of decorative arts.”When completed next year, the rooms will reflect their historic appearance, but also more ably facilitate a wider range of free and diverse cultural programming. This includes upgraded lighting, electrical, Wi-Fi and more as well as opportunities for artists and organizations to activate the space through a variety of performances and exhibitions.This project is part of Culture in My Neighborhood, a new collaborative initiative that supports cultural programming at the Chicago Cultural Center, 18 Chicago Park District neighborhood cultural centers, and the Chicago Public Library regional libraries — through grants and commission opportunities for artists and organizations. It seeks to expand access and participation in South and West Side neighborhoods that have lacked traditional cultural infrastructure such as museums and theaters. This program complements an over $40 million capital investment that will break ground in 2021 in the City’s network of cultural centers to upgrade theater, music, dance, and visual art presentation capabilities at these facilities. Artists and organizations will receive financial support — including those who were displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic — and community residents will enjoy free and affordable, high-quality cultural experiences in their own neighborhoods. Culture in My Neighborhood is part of Arts 77, a citywide arts recovery and reopening plan for all of Chicago’s 77 community areas.“I am thrilled to see the magnificent restoration of the G.A.R. rooms come to fruition. The work will not only improve the building and physical structures, it will enhance the public programming in the building,” said Mark Kelly, DCASE Commissioner. “With this restoration, we also herald a new mission for the Chicago Cultural Center as we link our efforts with the 18 Chicago Park District neighborhood cultural centers and the Chicago Public Library’s regional libraries. We no longer stand alone, but instead are part of a citywide cultural center ecosystem, bringing cultural vitality to all of our citizens.”&nbsp;The Chicago Cultural Center will reopen to the public on June 2, 2021, with the exhibitions “Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford: League of Nations” and “what flies but never lands.” Soon after, “Chicago: Where Comics Came to Life, 1880–1960” will open on June 19. Visitors will also be greeted with new visitor amenities including a reimagined Welcome Center and Learning Lab — and Buddy, a new shop created with the Public Media Institute (online for now at <a href="http://hi-buddy.org/">hi-buddy.org</a>) to give Chicago's artists and small manufacturers a place to showcase and sell their goods and artwork. Visit <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ9uoiykuNvHH2UN6PS6y-2BNyfiuFdSrabk1CvrywjEZUL6GXW_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361QxVkZz8qTDmYI6mxUWhXz7Djal7qPD-2FaqDUTz-2FnSmI7J3mtB6UmcHjOGnPC9RkxqH6VkPN2frzk9GGSpsBJv9jEZvP16-2BoNx3SoOrsKUmAoWcbiEjpeTApfrOCNaBCZ0uGYsBR7g5UUUv6Tx6MYTjaOQUJ1m7n7-2B3jwq6C94p3Ng0Me0H8cnhdDP0pGSiwhrtnBwQ1lF88jHTCFttbA-2Bz-2F6UJWpTiSl9UxW70h-2FbIUWJlqSSuKs37OqhOB15zPZwoJpGoOm9bORIYQqG-2FJJN6A-3D-3D">chicagoculturalcenter.org</a> closer to the reopening for updated visitor information including reduced schedule.The Chicago Cultural Center restoration, which began in February following an intensive year-long study, will take approximately 12 months to complete. The G.A.R. rooms will remain closed to the public during this time. The project is being executed by Harboe Architects and a team of highly specialized preservation experts and artisans, in partnership with the Department of Assets, Information and Services (AIS) in consultation with conservators and Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian Emeritus for the City of Chicago. The Landmarks Commission reviewed and unanimously approved the project and will provide additional oversight.About the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Memorial Hall and G.A.R. Rotunda Dedicated in 1898, the rooms were created as a place of gathering for Union Civil War veterans and their families, and a place of memory honoring those who died. Reliefs in decorative plaster reflect iconography of war through the ages, richly finished in silver leaf shaded with layers of translucent color. The overall design was a collaborative effort of architect Charles A. Coolidge, partner in the Boston-based firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, and the New York studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany — a respected and influential American master of color and decorative design.&nbsp; Local artisans executed the work under the supervision of Coolidge and Tiffany’s project manager J.A. Holzer, a notable participant being the Chicago art glass and decorating firm of Healy &amp; Millet who fabricated the 62,000 piece art glass dome. Healy &amp; Millet’s other notable work in Chicago included collaborating with architect Louis H. Sullivan in creating the art glass and painted decorations for the Auditorium Theatre and the trading room of the Chicago Stock Exchange — now reconstructed at the Art Institute of Chicago.The decorated plaster surfaces were created to meld with lower walls of rich natural marbles — a green-tinted Vermont marble in Memorial Hall and gray Tennessee marble in the Rotunda. All marble is to be cleaned and returned to their original polished finish&nbsp; Also restored will be massive richly-grained mahogany doors.Dark tinted exterior window glass installed during the 1970s will be replaced with protective filtered clear glass, allowing views of the room to be obtained from the outside.&nbsp; When illuminated at night by re-created period lighting fixtures, the G.A.R will be a highly visible attraction seen both from streets and sidewalks, as well as from Millennium Park.</body></html>

City to Begin 12-Month Restoration of the Chicago Cultural Center

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418222/l3phi91cay1iokm5lzkh.jpg"></figure>CGN Staff via PRMayor Lightfoot and DCASE are banking on art. Eager to put the city back on track following a terribly challenging year, they've announced plans to invest in the arts to help bring people and businesses back via a program they're calling “Arts 77” —&nbsp;a citywide arts recovery and reopening plan&nbsp;for all of Chicago’s 77 community areas, representing an initial investment of&nbsp;over $60 million to support local artists and organizations. Additional&nbsp;updates regarding&nbsp;financial&nbsp;grants&nbsp;and programs to&nbsp;support&nbsp;arts&nbsp;recovery&nbsp;will follow&nbsp;in the upcoming weeks.There's even talk of a multi-million dollar, 30 Chicago-area artist public art plan as part of the Terminal 5 expansion project at O’Hare&nbsp;International Airport that would make art one of the biggest first impressions &nbsp;international visitors have of our city.&nbsp;"Before the pandemic struck, our arts and culture sector was a significant employer and economic driver that generated thousands of jobs and billions of dollars for our city," said Mayor Lightfoot. "With this incredible program, we will not only be able to revitalize this critical sector and provide support to&nbsp;our artists, creative workers and organizations, but also place the arts at the center of our city’s recovery efforts.”“Arts 77”&nbsp;signals&nbsp;a new direction&nbsp;for&nbsp;Chicago’s cultural policy,&nbsp;in which the arts are&nbsp;embedded in initiatives&nbsp;and strategies&nbsp;across&nbsp;City government.&nbsp;This&nbsp;plan seeks to expand access and participation in the arts citywide, prioritize employment of creative workers through City programs and services, and deepen public sector investment in the creative sector though financial support and cultural&nbsp;policy. Today’s&nbsp;announcement&nbsp;launches&nbsp;new and expanded programs including&nbsp;the&nbsp;Neighborhood Access Program, the&nbsp;Chicago Band Roster and Chicago Presents grant programs, Culture in My Neighborhood (a $40 million collaboration by DCASE, the Chicago Park District,&nbsp;and Chicago Public Library),&nbsp;Individual Artists Program&nbsp;grants,&nbsp;Artist Response Program&nbsp;grants, and $18.5 million in art&nbsp;and&nbsp;infrastructure investments.&nbsp;“Chicago’s arts sector has been decimated by the global pandemic. We have assembled an unprecedented array of resources to bolster our vital arts sector, and today's announcement is the first of several to follow,” said DCASE Commissioner Mark Kelly.&nbsp;“These new programs will strengthen the arts and culture landscape, support the City’s reopening, and advance Chicago’s economic recovery. DCASE will lead these comprehensive citywide efforts as we animate our neighborhoods with cultural life and position the arts as central to Chicago’s future.”“The arts are uniquely&nbsp;positioned&nbsp;to aid in&nbsp;Chicago’s&nbsp;recovery efforts, and&nbsp;creative&nbsp;workers stand ready,” said Amina J. Dickerson and Alison Cuddy, Cultural Advisory Council Chair and Vice Chair. “To thrive post-pandemic, the City&nbsp;must leverage the power of its arts and culture sector, putting&nbsp;artists&nbsp;to work rebuilding, reimagining, unifying, and healing&nbsp;our&nbsp;neighborhoods.”For details&nbsp;and upcoming Arts 77 webinars for the cultural community, visit <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ4TXG4aEpmBXWyior40nHaWAo1VE03LSQKj1M6FDUhuWuWJ9_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361JczapSvf6rbhPl3ofH-2F0oe7S01YlpSH23Pryiy4gAY8fw38eIs9J-2FbJWHRTvmSCMnvVd1mQZ2CICfFLzJBY5eoKuGOjLY7fqz4d4EE7SRvj0v-2Bq-2BvJLFN3pMpEo3Uu4qdxY-2BZn5isqNnFzRlPp186tcyURXdTVTCQGbVU0VcHfZPmDgXwc8hdYYPCMa-2BaEGoYvjaGBuylnfYtss-2Bd1ZFrXIkXfGMSkKqd30G1iWd2YYwLvk7jXxGifYEdUKn0QcvBBtXIi3nRHcckvTUvEqXbw-3D-3D">Chicago.gov/Arts77</a>.&nbsp;Expanding&nbsp;Access and Participation in the ArtsBeginning this summer, the City will&nbsp;rollout&nbsp;new guidelines, funding&nbsp;opportunities, and programs to increase access and reopen&nbsp;the cultural sector.&nbsp;DCASE&nbsp;is currently accepting&nbsp;idea&nbsp;submissions for its new&nbsp;Neighborhood Access Program, representing&nbsp;$1 million in financial grants (up to 40 grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000) designed to be responsive to the complex needs of individual communities. The program was created to support the&nbsp;cultural vitality in neighborhoods with a focus on those that have traditionally not&nbsp;received funding through&nbsp;the&nbsp;City’s&nbsp;Cultural Grants Program —and to collaborate with other City departments&nbsp;to make a collective impact in&nbsp;INVEST South/West communities. The application opens April 20&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ-2FOfdVALjpYZsEGm6zCd-2Bgd4qbfTXA6h20a3N6YR0-2FVRPXdV_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361JczapSvf6rbhPl3ofH-2F0oe7S01YlpSH23Pryiy4gAY8fw38eIs9J-2FbJWHRTvmSCMnvVd1mQZ2CICfFLzJBY5eoKuGOjLY7fqz4d4EE7SRvhQmhR2vn8lMEFF8g0u7j4K1f-2BvcI0KBN-2F5p2km9aHtrRrRY0WQH2p8tkYziPS3GILk2ZQRB48rvUOdfrL7dNwFQOLgnocVY655Q5WEMO5NJ9iSQEBbw1EhHYL3xxy3WxglCOnCKLXMHPCSKnla1hrkVrwIx307-2F93DX15WvNOuVw-3D-3D">ChicagoCulturalGrants.org</a>.&nbsp;Through&nbsp;Chicago Presents, DCASE will provide&nbsp;up to 100 grants&nbsp;(ranging from $5,000&nbsp;–&nbsp;$30,000)&nbsp;to activate&nbsp;cultural&nbsp;programs&nbsp;that comply with public health guidelines&nbsp;in neighborhoods&nbsp;throughout Chicago in Summer 2021.&nbsp;Emerging and established cultural presenters are invited to submit proposals for free live, in-person concerts and events, spanning&nbsp;all music genres, performance,&nbsp;and dance that activate Chicago’s streets, plazas,&nbsp;and parks. Additionally, presenters may select up to&nbsp;two&nbsp;solo musicians and/or bands from the&nbsp;Chicago Band Roster&nbsp;to play at their event. The&nbsp;Band Roster is a new&nbsp;resource listing&nbsp;over&nbsp;200 Chicago-based musicians of all genres&nbsp;— created as part of the 2021 Year of Chicago Music.&nbsp;Application opens April&nbsp;20&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ1JPtLnvcS2xUVsnlfkRMPHl2Bj2LDJ48-2Bx11LK-2FpTV-2BFLWC_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361JczapSvf6rbhPl3ofH-2F0oe7S01YlpSH23Pryiy4gAY8fw38eIs9J-2FbJWHRTvmSCMnvVd1mQZ2CICfFLzJBY5eoKuGOjLY7fqz4d4EE7SRvjqo6FZFqehQUjdkYTcpsoxTYhhGuaetBQp8S1kZSwtkj1a6vym92sesXIoONzeVI1j-2FhiGW-2B9y9bMa2BdiJmvynOuIam5YaWFg3QvqoE5KeGHpetDIS268hhP0OH3sAvg2Veupv650vSwmNh3T9dwVfOvys9dxz92Y3GDzVuYmlA-3D-3D">chicago.gov/music</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp;Culture&nbsp;in My&nbsp;Neighborhood&nbsp;is a new&nbsp;collaborative&nbsp;initiative&nbsp;that&nbsp;supports&nbsp;cultural programming at the Chicago Cultural Center,&nbsp;18&nbsp;Chicago&nbsp;Park District&nbsp;neighborhood cultural centers,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the Chicago Public Library&nbsp;regional libraries —&nbsp;through grants and commission opportunities&nbsp;for artists and organizations. It seeks to expand access and participation in South and West Side neighborhoods that have lacked traditional cultural infrastructure&nbsp;such as&nbsp;museums and theaters. This&nbsp;program&nbsp;complements&nbsp;an over $40 million capital investment&nbsp;that will break ground in 2021&nbsp;in the City’s network of cultural centers&nbsp;to upgrade&nbsp;theater, music, dance,&nbsp;and visual art presentation capabilities at these facilities.&nbsp;Artists and organizations will receive&nbsp;financial support — including those who were&nbsp;displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic&nbsp;—&nbsp;and&nbsp;community residents will enjoy free and affordable, high-quality cultural experiences in their own neighborhoods.“Chicago parks have long provided affordable access to the arts,” said Chicago Park District General Superintendent and CEO Michael Kelly. “We are excited to partner with our sister agencies to expand existing resources. Culture&nbsp;in My Neighborhood and the broader Arts 77 plan will celebrate Chicago’s vibrant culture while fueling public engagement in our communities. From Austin to West Pullman, our 18 neighborhood cultural centers will continue to serve as important cultural assets for years to come.”Supporting&nbsp;Artists and Creative WorkersRecognizing that artists have always played an important role in advancing the causes of justice and racial equity, DCASE will support artists in developing projects that engage the public in a constructive, civic dialogue that will propel our collective action, facilitate progress, and make Chicago a model city for the nation as it faces the difficult work ahead.Through its new&nbsp;Artist Response Program, DCASE has awarded five artists and artist teams $100,000 grants. Artist awardees announced today are:&nbsp;Tonika&nbsp;Lewis Johnson; Santiago X; Kirsten&nbsp;Leenaars&nbsp;with Circles and Ciphers; Pilsen Housing Cooperative with Hector Duarte, Nicole&nbsp;Marroquin, and Gabriel Villa; and an artist team with Aquil&nbsp;Charlton, William Estrada, Andrés&nbsp;Lemus-Spont, and&nbsp;Marya&nbsp;Spont-Lemus. In addition to individual artist grants, seven arts organizations will receive grants ranging from $50,000 – $100,000 to re-grant funds to approximately 60 artists. Re-granting partners announced today are:&nbsp;ConTextos, Folded Map Project/Englewood Arts Collective, Full Spectrum Features, Greater Southwest Development Corporation, Jazz Institute of Chicago,&nbsp;Kartemquin&nbsp;Films, and the National Museum of Mexican Art. The Artist Response Program represents a $1.2 million investment, including&nbsp;over&nbsp;$600,000 in support available soon through re-granting partners.&nbsp;DCASE is also pleased to announce the 2021 recipients of its annual&nbsp;Individual Artists Program&nbsp;grants,&nbsp;supporting&nbsp;Chicago's practicing artists in creating work that develops their craft and elevates their careers while adding to the cultural vitality of the city of Chicago. This year, 162&nbsp;project-based grants between $800 to $5,000 will be awarded to resident Chicago artists over the age of 18 across all artistic disciplines including film &amp; media arts, literary arts, performing arts (theatre/dance), music and visual arts/design.&nbsp;In addition to the Individual Artists Program&nbsp;project&nbsp;grants, 13 high-qualified artists will receive the Esteemed&nbsp;Artist Award, a special $10,000 grant for expenses associated with an artist’s practice within the 2021&nbsp;grant period, including studio rental, supplies, travel and equipment. In celebration of 2021&nbsp;as the Year of Chicago Music, half of the Esteemed Artist Awards are going to local musicians –&nbsp;Afinca’o,&nbsp;Jeff Baraka,&nbsp;Billy Branch,&nbsp;Joelle&nbsp;Lamarre,&nbsp;Vivian McConnell,&nbsp;Matt&nbsp;Ulery, and&nbsp;Wanees&nbsp;Zarour. Award recipients in other disciplines are&nbsp;Colette&nbsp;Ghunim (Film &amp; Media Arts),&nbsp;Anuradha Rana&nbsp;(Film &amp; Media Arts),&nbsp;Natasha&nbsp;Tarpley (Literary Arts),&nbsp;Cat Mahari (Performing Arts),&nbsp;Daris Jasper&nbsp;(Visual Art &amp; Design) and&nbsp;Anke&nbsp;Loh&nbsp;(Visual Art &amp; Design).Investing in Arts&nbsp;and InfrastructureThe following programs recognize the talents of artists as creative problem solvers&nbsp;who&nbsp;can help inform, enhance, and support the work of City departments. They will also be significant jobs generators.&nbsp;Under the leadership of Mayor Lightfoot, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Department of Assets, Information,&nbsp;and Services,&nbsp;the&nbsp;new multi-year, needs-based Capital Plan&nbsp;will not only leverage capital improvements to spur local economic development and job creation,&nbsp;but also mark a major advancement&nbsp;in&nbsp;the standard of public asset maintenance, and,&nbsp;consequently, the quality of life and livability of all Chicago communities.Public art will be integrated into the Capital Plan to turn the everyday into the extraordinary, physically,&nbsp;and symbolically communicating connections between neighborhoods, histories, people, and futures. Public art projects will become major destinations and cultural landmarks, contributing to the&nbsp;city’s economic development.&nbsp;For the first time, the&nbsp;City&nbsp;incorporated public art into the Capital Plan,&nbsp;investing&nbsp;at least&nbsp;$15 million in public art over the next&nbsp;five years.Additionally,&nbsp;DCASE and the&nbsp;Chicago&nbsp;Department of Aviation today announced a $3.5 million public art plan as part of the Terminal 5 expansion project at O’Hare&nbsp;International Airport. The project presents a unique opportunity to celebrate the work of Chicagoland artists&nbsp;through large-scale commissions&nbsp;and acquisitions,&nbsp;and&nbsp;to provide international visitors a dynamic and welcoming first impression of our city. Up to 30 Chicago-area artists will&nbsp;participate in&nbsp;this program&nbsp;— the&nbsp;largest single acquisition of works by Chicago artists&nbsp;by the&nbsp;City&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;last 30 years.&nbsp;In the coming weeks, the City will launch more&nbsp;programs&nbsp;to aid Chicago’s creative recovery, including&nbsp;a new&nbsp;program to support arts education&nbsp;providers and students;&nbsp;additional grant programs&nbsp;to&nbsp;increase&nbsp;arts&nbsp;access&nbsp;for&nbsp;people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people living in institutions; workforce&nbsp;development&nbsp;programs&nbsp;to help stabilize and grow Chicago’s&nbsp;creative economy, including recommendations outlined in the report produced by the Chicago COVID-19 Recovery Task Force to support employment in the film industry; additional direct financial relief&nbsp;programs for individuals and organizations; artist engagement in We Will Chicago —&nbsp;the first citywide plan where artists will play a central role&nbsp;in creating public policy; and a public awareness and advocacy campaign reiterating the importance of the local arts sector, developed with global communications agency FleishmanHillard&nbsp;and the Cultural Advisory Council.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</body></html>

We Built This City On... The Arts. City of Chicago Pledges $60 million for Recovery and Reopening

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418887/u4iz2jwu2es2o7akxowx.jpg"></figure><a href="https://patrongallery.com">PATRON Has a New Home in An Old Theater</a>PATRON announce the opening of their 5,000 square foot new home at the site of the historic Alvin theatre in Chicago’s West Town gallery district. Located at 1612 W. Chicago Ave., this historic structure, originally built in 1914, was the site of a vaudeville theater run by the Lynch Circuit and later became a part of the Balaban &amp; Katz chain, two pioneering theatre corporations that were integral to perfecting the “palace” theatre concept in the early 20th century in Chicago. The original theatre sat 540 people and, in the 1970s, the site operated as a Spanish-language movie house. The historic building serves as a perfect home for PATRON as they deepen their commitment to the city of Chicago and its vibrant art community. Drawing from their name, the mission of the gallery has always been rooted in an artist-centered approach, which engages art audiences from all walks of life, and is fueled by the belief that a patron can be anyone with a passion and drive to champion and support artists. The gallery’s layout and design will take cues from our existing location and expand on the concept of home, featuring three separate gallery spaces and open communal spaces that foster a warm, inviting approach to accessibility. With seating areas throughout as well as a multi-purpose screening and lecture hall, they hope to invite audiences to come to not only experience art but to spend time at the gallery contemplating and engaging with the community and team.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418888/ug4dvlny0dbam4ygadts.png"></figure><a href="http://kavigupta.com">Kavi Gupta Is Expanding</a>When <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/carrie-secrist-gallery">Carrie Secrist Gallery</a> left the ground floor of 835 W Washington last year and moved nearby to 900 W, their expansive space became vacant. The owner of the building, however, is fellow gallerist Kavi Gupta. That gallery is opting to take over Secrist's old space and expand (they will remain on the second floor too). They shared yesterday via PR: "After two decades operating in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, Kavi Gupta is fulfilling our original vision for our gallery at 835 W. Washington Boulevard by expanding our operations to include our building’s 4,000-square-foot&nbsp;west suite on the ground floor. We are thrilled to share this news in anticipation of the restoration of community gatherings following the difficulties of the past year.This expansion creates a new, multi-purpose, museum-quality exhibition space. In addition to our new rooftop sculpture garden, the space&nbsp;will allow us to host expanded programming and events, as well as a curated bookshop that extends our art publishing arm, Kavi Gupta | Editions."The inaugural exhibition in the new street-level space, opening May 22, 2021, is the gallery’s debut solo show with South African artist Mary Sibande.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418889/ydtlffxlhh0y6mzpumet.png"></figure><a href="www.3d4dbycsi.org">Chicago Sculpture International Opens New Art Space: 3D4D</a>Chicago Sculpture International (CSI) has a new art space, 3D4D by CSI, at 1912 N Damen. The gallery opens its first exhibition April 23 with a retrospective of the late Ron Gard’s work, “Nexus Between Spaces”.The exhibition will feature Gard’s small and medium sculptures, as well as a digital display highlighting Ron’s artistic legacy. 3D4D by CSI’s first opening reception is Friday April 23, 6-9pm and was planned to coincide with the International Sculpture Center’s&nbsp;International Sculpture Day, #ISDay, on April 24. The exhibit will run six weeks through June 5. The reception will be in-person (10-15 people) with staggered gallery visits, observing social distancing, and masks required.Ron, a well-known local Chicago Sculptor, passed away in 2019. Gard was a member of Chicago Sculpture International since 2010 and a long-time board member. Ron had been making sculpture since 1977, and his work has been exhibited throughout the country. He was a large contributor for multiple Chicago public sculpture shows, including the famous Chicago Lakefront Sculpture Exhibit, 2012-2013, hosted by the Chicago Park District.3D4D also plans on live streaming the events on Instagram.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418890/kqrghy9pnd1fjhwead9w.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/arts_77.html">City of Chicago Announces Arts 77 Recovery and Reopening Plan</a>Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, the Department of Cultural Affairs&nbsp;and Special Events (DCASE),&nbsp;the Chicago Park District,&nbsp;and other City of Chicago departments announced “Arts 77” —&nbsp;a citywide arts recovery and reopening plan&nbsp;for all of Chicago’s 77 community areas, representing an initial investment of&nbsp;over $60 million to support local artists and organizations. Additional&nbsp;updates regarding&nbsp;financial&nbsp;grants&nbsp;and programs to&nbsp;support&nbsp;arts&nbsp;recovery&nbsp;will follow&nbsp;in the upcoming weeks.“Arts 77”&nbsp;signals&nbsp;a new direction&nbsp;for&nbsp;Chicago’s cultural policy,&nbsp;in which the arts are&nbsp;embedded in initiatives&nbsp;and strategies&nbsp;across&nbsp;City government.&nbsp;This&nbsp;plan seeks to expand access and participation in the arts citywide, prioritize employment of creative workers through City programs and services, and deepen public sector investment in the creative sector though financial support and cultural&nbsp;policy. Today’s&nbsp;announcement&nbsp;launches&nbsp;new and expanded programs including&nbsp;the&nbsp;Neighborhood Access Program, the&nbsp;Chicago Band Roster and Chicago Presents grant programs, Culture in My Neighborhood (a $40 million collaboration by DCASE, the Chicago Park District,&nbsp;and Chicago Public Library),&nbsp;Individual Artists Program&nbsp;grants,&nbsp;Artist Response Program&nbsp;grants, and $18.5 million in art&nbsp;and&nbsp;infrastructure investments.&nbsp;For details&nbsp;and upcoming Arts 77 webinars for the cultural community, visit <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ4TXG4aEpmBXWyior40nHaWAo1VE03LSQKj1M6FDUhuWuWJ9_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361JczapSvf6rbhPl3ofH-2F0oe7S01YlpSH23Pryiy4gAY8fw38eIs9J-2FbJWHRTvmSCMnvVd1mQZ2CICfFLzJBY5eoKuGOjLY7fqz4d4EE7SRvj0v-2Bq-2BvJLFN3pMpEo3Uu4qdxY-2BZn5isqNnFzRlPp186tcyURXdTVTCQGbVU0VcHfZPmDgXwc8hdYYPCMa-2BaEGoYvjaGBuylnfYtss-2Bd1ZFrXIkXfGMSkKqd30G1iWd2YYwLvk7jXxGifYEdUKn0QcvBBtXIi3nRHcckvTUvEqXbw-3D-3D">Chicago.gov/Arts77</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 4/21/21

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418887/dlamf5zahyyqhzauwmg7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/open-studio-night-2b74cf4b-0712-44b8-a8e5-c92cddacb22c">Open Studio Night</a>Opening: Friday, April 23, 6 – 10&nbsp;pmDragonfly GalleryThis Open Studio Night at Dragonfly Gallery will take place during the 1st Annual Exhibition: Photographic Processes &amp; More. Masks are required and social distancing will be practiced.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418888/inz2quq3xw9j0tvxvar7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ebony-g-patterson">Ebony G. Patterson, Brittney Leeanne Williams, Layo Bright</a>Opening: Saturday, April 24, 11&nbsp;am – 6&nbsp;pmMonique Meloche Gallerymoniquemeloche is pleased to present&nbsp;an exhibition of new large-scale tapestries and hand-cut paper works by&nbsp;Ebony&nbsp;G. Patterson. This is her fifth solo show with the gallery. Emerging from the framework of her immersive post-colonial garden-like installations, Patterson’s recent practice further considers the rich, expansive possibilities&nbsp;of the garden – a space for life and death, a complex entanglement of race, gender, class, and violence.The gallery is excited to introduce&nbsp;Layo&nbsp;Bright&nbsp;(b. 1991, Lagos, Nigeria) who will present a series of new ceramic and pottery plaster sculptures in the gallery’s viewing room.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418889/q4lpp8xkcfta5pwt1eh9.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/water-the-plants">Water The Plants!</a>Exhibition Begins April 24Vertical GalleryThis special exhibition includes collaborative paintings between: Joseph Renda Jr. and: Collin Van Der Sluijs, Sergio Farfan, Steve Seeley, Jason Brammer, Karl Jahnke, Kate Lewis, Kayla Mahaffey, Wingchow, and Grant William Thye.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418890/vj9yzqyfzlcwqi7tepwv.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/manuel-mathieu-negroland-a-landscape-of-desires">Manuel Mathieu Negroland: A Landscape of Desires</a>Exhibition Begins April 24Kavi Gupta GalleryKavi Gupta presents Negroland: A Landscape of Desires, a solo exhibition of new paintings and ceramics by Haitian-born, Montreal-based artist Manuel Mathieu.Mathieu’s practice is guided by intuition and the unknown as much as by intellect and memory. He sees the artist’s studio as crucible—a container in which forces and pressures are exerted to transform materials and ideas. The work is not the end of the process; rather, it creates the circumstances for connections, perspectives, and relationships to come into being.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418891/vsc2wt0ru5loikuoj5bv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-metamorphosis-of-gabriel-villa-d4c185cc-b899-4aad-bb74-098cdd03394d">The Metamorphosis of Gabriel Villa</a>Exhibition Begins April 26Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC)The Metamorphosis of Gabriel Villa introduces Villa’s new direction from painting into installation and clay sculpture created during his Jackman Goldwasser Residency at Hyde Park Art Center, along with previous paintings. Through an extensive studio and public art practice, Villa seeks to seamlessly translate the language of Mexican traditions and the personal, urban American experience into charged intimate narratives. Villa’s subjects are ever evolving but always concentrate on psychological and social inequity in the multifaceted contemporary world.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start April 23 - 26

<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-architecture-biennale-uic-chicago-20210419-qtwnyix4dfd6dprdumrexq6qou-story.html">UIC architecture team is creating U.S. entry to Venice Biennale, and it’s all about how Chicago invented the way Americans build houses</a>The wooden framing for houses would seem like an unlikely thing to elevate into art. It’s utilitarian and basic, the common sight of American suburbia — pine, lumber, another house going up for another family. Maybe a little hopeful if seen in that light, but otherwise about as exciting as your local Home Depot.Wood framing will be the subject of this year’s American entry into the prestigious Venice Architecture Biennale, the global showcase for architectural thought held every other year in Italy — this summer’s a year delayed by the pandemic. The title of the U.S. Pavilion will be “American Framing,” created and curated by architects and educators Paul Andersen and Paul Preissner as part of a project now being assembled with the help of students at the University of Illinois at Chicago.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/how-a-rock-wall-and-pool-of-water-have-thrown-a-wrench-into-the-redesign-of-hirshhorn-sculpture-garden/2021/04/16/010babfa-9ec6-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html?fbclid=IwAR3cCkyw98OaTabg_F4lb65L4gp98dLfUFqtdON9X0rCwaZSVQC3PIzLaLE">How a rock wall and pool of water have thrown a wrench into the redesign of Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden</a>The rhetoric around the Smithsonian’s renovation of the Hirshhorn Museum’s sculpture garden is officially heated.There were reports last month, amplified by a group opposed to key elements of the project, that artist and designer Hiroshi Sugimoto had threatened to quit. Sugimoto had told the Art Newspaper that he would resign if the museum did not accept a “key part of the redesign.” But that was in the context of an article in which he stressed his collaborative role with his predecessors on a garden that has evolved over the years.Via Washington Post&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/the-art-angle/art-angle-podcast-dawoud-bey-1959107">The Art Angle Podcast: How Photographer Dawoud Bey Makes Black America Visible</a>This month, the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd has brought the racial justice protests of the last summer viscerally back into the public consciousness, reigniting conversations in the news and in households everywhere about the reality of the Black experience in America.This weekend, those same conversations will also have a powerful new point of focus at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where a retrospective of the photographer Dawoud Bey presents his magisterial exploration of the subject, in the form of his penetrating portraits of Black lives from all points on the national compass. Ranging in registers from jubilation to agony, to ingenious self-invention, to blissed-out hope, the show is curated by Elizabeth Sherman and SFMoMA curator Corey Keller.Via Artnet Art AngleKey photo: Dawoud Bey, portrait by: Whitten Sabatini. Courtesy of the artist.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/sothebys-monet-water-lilies-painting-may-2021-1234590123/">Sotheby’s to Sell $40 M. Monet Water Lilies Painting in&nbsp;May</a>In a dramatic close to Sotheby’s modern art evening sale in Hong Kong on Sunday, vice chairman Brooke Lampley unveiled a large-scale <a href="https://www.artnews.com/t/claude-monet/">Claude Monet</a> water lilies painting to the live-streamed auction’s audience. That work, titled Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, is itself now going to be sold by the house. It will hit the block at Sotheby’s New York Impressionist and modern art evening sale on May 12, where it is expected to fetch $40 million.via Artnews&nbsp;

What We're Reading: 4/19

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418881/l5rmboirddwvgl3hp38x.png"></figure>By CGN Staff via PRAfter wrapping up its first entirely online-only edition this week – EXPO CHGO Online – EXPO CHICAGO today announced the dates for its next in-person edition at Navy Pier for April 7 – 10, 2022. April will host the fair for the foreseeable future as well, returning to a time of year that hosted international art exhibitions like Art Chicago for decades.&nbsp;Last May Tony Karman announced the fair, planned for September 2020, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/5/expo-chicago-to-move-from-september-to-april-8-11-2021">would move to April 2021</a>. Then plans were adjusted once again to <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2021/1/expo-chicago-to-go-virtual-for-spring-2021-dates">move the fair online</a>. Moving forward, the exposition will be presented annually in April. Dates beyond 2022 include April&nbsp;13 – 16, 2023 and April&nbsp;11 – 14, 2024 for the 10th and 11th editions at Navy Pier.&nbsp;EXPO CHICAGO will continue to develop and present year-round programming initiatives leading up to its ninth edition, to be announced.“We feel strongly that focusing on presenting the next edition of EXPO CHICAGO in April of 2022 respects both the current global recovery process and provides sufficient time for galleries, curators, and collectors to fully ramp back up for in-person presentations in their galleries and at fairs," said Tony Karman, President | Director. "I'd like to express my deepest appreciation for the sound advice and continued support we've received from our Selection Committee, key institutional stakeholders, leading galleries, Navy Pier and Chicago’s civic leaders. I am confident that our new dates will enable us to welcome friends and exhibitors from around the world back to Chicago."&nbsp;EXPO CHICAGO’s commitment to rigorous programming, critically acclaimed curatorial initiatives, institutional partnerships, and VIP events remain core to the exposition. Furthermore, the exposition will continue its partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, co-presenting the Vernissage opening night benefit, with proceeds supporting the institution. The previously announced program curators for IN/SITU Marcella Beccaria – Contemporary art historian and Chief Curator and Curator of Collections at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Turin) – and Humberto Moro – Deputy Director and Senior Curator at Museo Tamayo (Mexico City) – for the EXPOSURE section will be joining as planned for the ninth edition.“A treasured annual tradition at Navy Pier for nearly a decade, EXPO CHICAGO is one of our most highly anticipated events each year, and we are thrilled to officially welcome it back to Chicago’s lakefront in 2022 and beyond,” said Navy Pier President and CEO Marilynn Gardner. “The exposition’s return next spring will surely signal a renewed sense of hope and optimism as we make strides toward a full recovery from the pandemic and once again host guests from around the globe for this important and unique art experience.”We have missed attending EXPO this past year but are grateful for their efforts to continue offering programming all year and to bring collectors, artists and dealers together virtually. We can now look forward to spring 2022. – GV&nbsp;Want to go back in time? Read CGN's posts from 2012 about EXPO before it even began.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2012/2/mmpi-cancels-art-chicago-after-30-year-run-chicago-looks-to-fall-art-fair-on-the-horizon">February 2012: MMPI Cancels Art Chicago after 30-year run... Chicago Looks to Fall Art Fair on the Horizon</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2012/9/expo-chicago-to-revive-windy-city-s-glorious-art-fair-legacy">September 2012: Expo Chicago to revive Windy City’s glorious art-fair legacy</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

EXPO CHICAGO Announces Return to Spring Time Slot After a Decade As a Fall Mainstay

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418881/hwjol4xx6daoituro29x.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/christy-matson-12-recent-works">Christy Matson: 12 Recent Works</a>Exhibition Begins April 16&nbsp;Volume GalleryIn this new body of work, Matson paints the threads of both warp and weft, building layers of color that intersect in the weaving, interrupted by bubbles of painted paper yarn that burst up from its surface. Her artworks are washed in color where dye permeates fiber, bleeding from thread to thread to blur the grid on which they are organized, with subtle gradations flushing into sudden shades. Matson’s freedom with color highlights her interest in both constraint and precision.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418882/wmn4ilzpximswr0omcpi.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/michelle-bolinger">Michelle Bolinger</a>Exhibition Begins April 16&nbsp;Paris London Hong KongChicago-based painter Michelle Bolinger creates abstract paintings that investigate modes of seeing and oscillate between the surface and three-dimensionality. Layering and then taking away many thin layers of paint, Bollinger builds a multi-layered surface that is then interrupted with flat areas of color or defined geometric forms to create an optical surface tension.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418883/lhis1lg5js5jcm7isusu.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/boundaries">Boundaries</a>Exhibition Begins April 16&nbsp;Woman Made GalleryBoundaries&nbsp;explores modern digital and physical boundary setting as we emerge from global pandemic conditions.&nbsp;While many new physical boundaries have been defined for us, other boundaries were left to be defined. &nbsp;This exhibition considers the magnitude of this particular moment, as well as conceptual dimensions and negotiations of boundaries broadly, and as particularly experienced by womxn and non-binary individuals.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418883/yo0yvmpoimhhvej8tyrv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/paul-mpagi-sepuya-bd907de6-3c97-490d-96a2-ac3ebc64e7b4">Paul Mpagi Sepuya</a>Exhibition Begins April 16&nbsp;DOCUMENT&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418884/kbuyhg1wvssen0ir97vm.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ryan-travis-christian">Ryan Travis Christian</a>Exhibition Begins April 16&nbsp;Western ExhibitionsRyan Travis Christian’s 1990s suburban Chicago upbringing offered up absurd experiences, which he uses as fuel for the surreal personal narratives in his pop-culture-influenced graphite drawings. Impacted by Chicago-style figuration, Christian focuses on the paradoxical relationship between childish cartoons and ominous messages, musing on the technological and material obsolescence of his inspiration. Vintage political cartoons and hand-drawn animation influence Christian’s detailed vignettes—namely from Ub Iwerks, George Condo, and the Hairy Who—Christian comes to terms with his sources’ sordid pasts while embracing their richness and flavor.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418884/f36q0sfxglje9k6q6zze.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/milwaukee-s-spring-gallery-night-and-day">Milwaukee's Spring Gallery Night and Day</a>Exhibition Begins April 16 – 17Lily Pad | West&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418885/wujjzu62wavjfdawhlv5.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/american-roulette">American Roulette</a>&nbsp;Opening: Friday, April 16, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmEpiphany Center for the Arts&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418886/me5uc5aiosn2fk4xkpdp.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/damon-locks-then-x-enters">Damon Locks: Then X Enters</a>Opening: Saturday, April 17, noon – 4&nbsp;pmGoldfinch&nbsp;At the onset of the pandemic, away from his studio and most of his materials during lockdown, Damon Locks found himself needing to make work in ways that were outside his normal path. As an electronic sound-maker, one of the most important tools in Locks’s toolbox is his sampler, which is used to create sound pieces out of collected parts. This echoes how he builds visual images. Digital and screen printing are well-trodden parts of his artistic practice, and Locks regularly uses his computer to compile, construct, and reconstruct images, tweaking them until ready for display. But now, struck with the desire to create and without access to the computer as conveyance, he began to rely on the tools at hand. Ink, brush, bamboo pen, paint, scissors, glue, drawing and tracing paper stepped in where digital design programs once stood.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start April 16 – 17

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417789/qrjqhz8b6vbijhh5hevo.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-artist-david-csicsko-st-0413-20210412-ijhgkg3wifchpfpkkkiakcwkx4-story.html?fbclid=IwAR33zuIDmHCs_ts035BSDjmIZ-f48Z_zF0L0KeQ_HqT-uZw7xLdcfZQ2ZQg">David Lee Csicsko spent part of pandemic creating free coloring sheets to do while sheltering at home</a>The artwork of David Lee Csicsko brings smiles to people’s faces. His bold, bright creations add cheerfulness to every subject he interprets, no matter how somber the topic.Take the lives of saints. Most people grew up with holy cards and statues that depict saints in their martyrdom and perfect holiness, as exceptional people to revere in a detached, superhuman way.Csicsko takes a different approach. Enthralled with the saints since he was a child, his playful images make them human and approachable, inviting viewers to learn more about them and to embrace their messages.Via Chicago Tribune(Read CGN's 2020 interview with Csicsko <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/7/artist-david-lee-csicsko-lends-graphic-talents-to-benefit-healthcare-heroes">here</a>)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-nft-artist-chicago-20210322-6w2cp5skjrg27ig4vstqfhnb54-story.html?utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=&amp;utm_campaign=VAP&amp;fbclid=IwAR2mus2FHNRWFehlWLN-9xBez4RF7ebwQMXvtB_AF3t73jtozG41xemmEzw">What is NFT art? Chicago artists explain the goldrush, as one collection by Beeple brings in $69 million</a>Sara Ludy could buy her own island.Maybe. Possibly. Assuming everything goes the way it has lately for digital artists selling their work right now in the form of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Maybe then. <a href="https://www.saraludy.com/">Ludy has spent</a> a couple of decades creating digital art and virtual-reality pieces and teaching the brave new world of new media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; last spring, after years in the city, she left Chicago for her dream state, New Mexico. She’s a significant figure in digital art. She’s not wading into NFTs to get rich quick. And frankly who knows if she even wants an island?Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/collectors-eye-they-built-a-world-class-collection-of-black-artists-work-who-are-they-acquiring-now-11594828483?mod=hp_featst_pos4">From July 2020: Collector’s Eye: They Built a World-Class Collection of Black Artists’ Work. Who Are They Acquiring Now?</a>With the <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2021/4/cgn-art-world-recap-april-6">news today</a> that the Art Institute of Chicago has a new chair of the Board of Trustees, Denise Gardner, we pulled up this article we were reading last summer.Ms. Gardner, the vice-chairman of the board at the Art Institute of Chicago, said she recently walked into the room at home where she has long displayed the masters of the collection—and realized every artist was a Black man. She had bought a couple of major works by Black women lately, so she resolved to add these artists to the main room, thereby allowing Black women to share the spotlight.Via WSJ&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/gardner-heist-netflix-documentary-1957735?utm_content=from_&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US%20News%20Morning%204/13/21&amp;utm_term=US%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BMORNING%5D">An Explosive Netflix Documentary About the $500 Million Isabella Stewart Gardner Heist Names the Gangsters Who May Have Done It</a>“This was a solvable crime,” Colin Barnicle, director of the <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/gardner-heist-docuseries-netflix-1951491">new Netflix documentary series</a> <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81032570">This Is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist</a>, told Artnet News.But more than three decades after the most expensive art theft in U.S. history, Boston’s <a href="https://www.gardnermuseum.org/">Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum</a>’s stolen paintings are still missing, with their empty frames hanging on the walls of the Venetian-style palazzo.Via Artnet&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 4/13

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417626/ybpoan1vqiompgjjon4w.jpg"><figcaption>John Kiley, Blue Halo, 2020, blown and cut glass, 14.75 x 14.25 x 9 in. Courtesy of Traver Gallery</figcaption></figure><a href="https://intersectchicago.com">Intersect Chicago (the old SOFA) announces fall in person dates</a>Intersect Chicago — the future of SOFA will take place in-person November 4–7, 2021. This year the fair presents an exploration of materiality and meaning in design, objects, furniture, and art with a focus on local, regional, and global creation. The fair's focus on glass continues to grow and evolve, and viewers can anticipate that glass will be a highlight of the 2021 edition. Visit <a href="https://vgmgt.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=63b52f0348afa8b143fb2ed1c&amp;id=9d0959fc8c&amp;e=dff93cd990">IntersectChicago.com</a> for updates and news in the coming weeks about virtual programs and events leading up to November.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417627/e5udabmd00cgouocwnam.jpg"><figcaption>Lori Sapio.&nbsp;Denise Gardner, 2021. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.artic.edu/press/press-releases/297/art-institute-of-chicago-announces-denise-gardner-as-next-chairperson-of-board-of-trustees">The Art Institute Announces the Next Board Chair, Collector Denise Gardner</a>The Art Institute of Chicago announced today the election of Denise Gardner as the organization’s new chairperson of the Board of Trustees. Gardner will succeed Robert M. Levy as the leader of the governing body of both the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and the Art Institute of Chicago museum. Levy will remain on the board and Gardner will take over as chair when Levy’s term ends in November.With her professional background and a nearly 30-year relationship with the Art Institute as a volunteer and philanthropic leader, including 15 years as a trustee and five years in her current role as vice chair of the board, Gardner is uniquely positioned to advance the strategic vision of both the museum and the school. Deeply invested in and knowledgeable about the Art Institute of Chicago, she has modeled support and advocacy for the museum and school by championing artists and the accessibility of art and art education for historically underrepresented audiences. She has built a personal collection of art that is internationally recognized and cultivated rich relationships with many artists and educators.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417628/n34cfe3yow4pam65f2jv.jpg"><figcaption><a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/stephen-towns">Stephen Towns, </a><a href="https://www.artsy.net/artwork/stephen-towns-we-will-rest-our-thoughts-in-the-embers">We Will Rest Our Thoughts in the Embers</a>, 2020, <a href="https://www.artsy.net/de-buck-gallery">De Buck Gallery</a></figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-10-best-booths-expo-chicagos-online-edition">Check out 'the 10 best' booths at EXPO's online edition&nbsp;</a>More than a year after the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic set in and art fairs around the world canceled their plans for the foreseeable future, Chicago’s EXPO fair is holding its 2021 edition online, rescheduled from the fair’s usual in-person time slot in September. This year’s edition, known as <a href="https://www.artsy.net/fair/expo-chgo-online">EXPO CHGO ONLINE</a>, gathers presentations from more than 80 U.S. and international galleries showcasing both contemporary upstarts and well-known figures working in painting, sculpture, fiber art, and much more.Three of the chosen galleries are from Chicago (Daiter, Meloche, and Mickey)Via Artsy&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417629/qlkt8tgwcaxwgfxvbshw.png"><figcaption>Amy Sherald, Breonna Taylor, 2020, oil on linen Joseph Hyde/© Amy Sherald. Courtesy the artist and Hauser &amp; Wirth</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-10-best-booths-expo-chicagos-online-edition">SAIC Grad Allison Glenn curates Exhibition Devoted to Breonna Taylor</a>"To have a contemporary exhibition by majority Black artists in this space acts as a decolonization of these galleries," Glenn says.The show is laid out in three sections to reflect the words in the title: "Promise, Witness, Remembrance."Via NPR&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417630/dtwofikjpyz2hbekn3pj.png"></figure><a href="https://bradlippitz.com/properties/680-n-lake-shore-drive-unit-523-chicago-il-60611-10978559">680 N Lake Shore Drive, Unit 523</a>Completely gutted and masterfully redesigned this oversized one-of-a-kind 1-bedroom/1.5 bath residence exudes sophistication. Featuring art on nearly every wall, including works by Alexander Calder and others, this art filled unit could be yours for under $500K.Via Compass/Brad Lippitz&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: April 13

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418881/ollhcab8aoubpgrb91wc.jpg"></figure>Gallery Chat: SaraNoa MarkFriday, April 9, 12 – 4&nbsp;pmGoldfinchSaraNoa Mark on-site gallery chat on Friday, April 9th, 12-4pm. Book your appointment now to visit the exhibition; the artist is available to answer questions and&nbsp;give casual walk-throughs.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418882/wlqkagqzavk6tlhtfyvo.jpg"></figure>USUAL OBJECTS Panel DiscussionFriday, April 9, 5 – 6&nbsp;pmCarrie Secrist GalleryIn addition to our virtual booth for EXPO CHGO, the gallery will be hosting a special panel discussion featuring the participating artists in our current exhibition USUAL OBJECTS. The panel discussion will further examine contemporary still life in the current context of the coronavirus pandemic against the&nbsp;historic backdrop of the still life genre.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418883/vd3otgltzi77wya8yonh.png"></figure>Seeing Double: Mughal Reflections in South Asian ArtSaturday, April 10, 9 – 11&nbsp;amSouth Asia InstituteThis class will provide both historical and current perspectives on South Asia’s imperial past. ‘Reflecting’ on the Mughals is pivotal to the way India and Pakistan envision their nations – and grapple with their (post)colonial history.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418884/mndbdeonlwk7eq4iquyn.jpg"></figure>In Conversation with the ArtistsSaturday, April 10, 3 – 4&nbsp;pmEat Paint StudioPlease join me for our second conversation with Claire Elliott, Vanessa Shinmoto, and Alexandra Stevenson this Saturday, April 10, from 3-4PM CST. We'll talk more about color, process, and maybe dive into philosophical meanderings about the value of art. The virtual talk will take place via Zoom.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418885/wuxmwd4thbkpra9ppdim.png"></figure>Artist Talk: Jill MagidSaturday, April 10, 6 – 7&nbsp;pmThe Renaissance SocietyFeaturing the premiere of a new film and other new works, Jill Magid’s Tender: Balance at the Renaissance Society thinks about the circulation of pennies, against the backdrop of the pandemic, and measures of absence and loss. With dimensions that both intimate and observant of larger systems around us, this exhibition both parallels and builds on a monumental but nearly invisible public artwork that Magid began in New York in fall 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418886/al6reetakjfrp4bn6wki.png"></figure>Music for Self-care and HealingSunday, April 11, 2 – 3&nbsp;pmNorthern Illinois University (NIU) Art MuseumJen Conley, board certified music therapist and licensed professional counselor, will provide an overview of music therapy, share remarkable stories from her practice and provide suggestions on applying the healing powers of music in your own life.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Talks This Weekend: April 9 - 11

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417762/gtpz1ygptpytrxgaykmt.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ellen-lanyon-a-bit-of-magic">Ellen Lanyon: A Bit of Magic</a>Exhibition begins April 8Gray&nbsp;Often discussed in relation to Surrealism and Magic Realism, Chicago painter and printmaker Ellen Lanyon (1926 - 2013) is celebrated for her fantastical and meticulously crafted still-life compositions. A reflection of her own private mythology, Lanyon's juxtapositions of exotic specimens from the natural world with everyday household objects subvert ideas of domesticity and offer mysterious new narratives both playful and sinister.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417763/adwb3dzjpc7pubgzosg4.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/lust-love-and-loss-in-renaissance-europe">Lust, Love, and Loss in Renaissance Europe</a>Exhibition begins April 8Smart Museum of Art&nbsp;The objects on view—created for private homes and personal consumption—offer glimpses into the lives of artists and their audiences. Painters, printmakers, and craftsmen, inspired by popular literary sources including Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron, and the Bible, interpreted their stories for everyday settings.&nbsp;Taken together, the works of art on display illuminate the many ways that objects lay at the heart of cultural rituals and consuming desires through which relationships were formed, celebrated, and extinguished.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417764/navd17gcuv0fn4ap0cnq.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/momentum-moving-joyfully-forward">Momentum: Moving joyfully forward</a>Exhibition begins April 9Springboard Arts&nbsp;The emergence from a turbulent season can be a time of positive change, fueling momentum to keep moving forward. In our new exhibit, “Momentum,” the idea of moving forward with strength and purpose is depicted in the vibrant work of our artists and in the subject matter they address.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417765/mevirnifvv7rq9lr8eno.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/space-chapter-one">Space: Chapter One</a>Exhibition begins April 9Oliva Gallery&nbsp;Organized by the Chicago-based Didaar Art Collective, this group show exhibits a selection of juried drawings and printmakings on the perception of space or the ideas(s) of alternative spaces by Iranian visual artists who live in Iran and beyond.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417766/rdohx8leokz3ck5iputq.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/hurvin-anderson-anywhere-but-nowhere">Hurvin Anderson: Anywhere but Nowhere</a>Exhibition begins April 10Arts Club of Chicago&nbsp;In this new series of paintings, Anderson trains his eye on a section of wall from a seemingly insignificant building that is being overtaken by foliage. Working and reworking the composition in multiple sketches, transparencies and paintings, he invites introspection, as well as recognition of the destructive factors at work in such marked locations in the natural environment.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417767/bhicnmphhtergi8rb94m.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/jill-magid-tender-balance">Jill Magid | Tender: Balance</a>Exhibition begins April 10The Renaissance Society&nbsp;As the pandemic began last year, the complex relationships between individuals, groups of people, institutions, and deeply-rooted systems quickly came into stark relief. Magid was especially struck by the way public figures weighed the loss of human lives against the supposed costs for the economy. Against this backdrop, she began developing a project that would take multiple forms over time, while centering on the circulation of pennies, as they’re exchanged by hand and within the economy at large.&nbsp; &nbsp; Featuring the premiere of a new film and other new works, Jill Magid's Tender: Balance at the Renaissance Society follows the movement of pennies and some of their afterlives, while thinking about absence, loss, and traces left behind. Reflecting her unique approach as an artist, the exhibition has aspects that are intimate and poetic while also observing broader systems around us—in this case the intertwining of the economy and the lives of individual people.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417767/mfg9efglkl7piwm8luvd.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/figures-faces">Figures / Faces&nbsp;</a>Exhibition begins April 10Evanston Art Center&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417768/miensfzwformle2b3myv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/2021-mfa-candidates-thesis-exhibition">2021 MFA Candidates Thesis Exhibition</a>Exhibition begins April 10Snite Museum of Art&nbsp;This annual exhibition is comprised of the culminating thesis projects created by the students graduating from the three-year masters in fine arts degree program of the University of Notre Dame Department of Art, Art History &amp; Design.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417769/eonha6uoifnibxwosdlg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/is-this-real">Is This Real?</a>Exhibition begins April 10Gallery Studio Oh!&nbsp;A two-person exhibition featuring landscape and figurative paintings and drawings by Ellen Holtzblatt and imaginative, surreal gouache paintings and sculptures by Kathy Weaver. Through her paintings and drawings, Ellen Holtzblatt explores the profound connections between the physical and spiritual world. Kathy Weaveruses her imagination fired by buried memories and a love of technology to comment on the status quo. Both artists are on a journey to find meaningful coincidence that lead to a deeper connection with the universe.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start April 8 – 10

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEAWhile we are all yearning &nbsp;for a return to 'normalcy' soon, there are moments and events that still manage to remind us that we have shifted to a new normal, if you will. Last May EXPO CHICAGO's Tony Karman announced that EXPO would be taking an early, preemptive step to move the fair from its usual September dates to April 2021. This seemed, at the time, to be abundantly cautious but prudent, and an April in-person was totally doable.&nbsp;Well, a year goes fast, even when it's rough. EXPO's team has been busy preparing for a strong virtual showing, one that showcases contemporary and modern art features presentations of available artwork from over 80 international galleries, Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) members, EXPOSURE galleries, and Special Exhibition participants.&nbsp;The online iteration of EXPO includes the usual line up of best feet forward, even in this virtual format, with strong offerings from local participants as well as from international exhibitors and partners. EXPO CHGO ONLINE will offer a series of dynamic discussions, film screenings (presented in partnership with Daata), exhibition tours, and performances reflecting Chicago’s interdisciplinary arts scene.&nbsp;Programs taking place during EXPO CHGO ONLINE will be free and open to the public April 8-12 via the&nbsp;<a href="https://expochicago.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=feab88d1702b05fff44372e88&amp;id=eafb9b310e&amp;e=b25d02ccd1">EXPO CHICAGO microsite</a>. Each gallery has also been invited to present one artwork that contributes to a broad rethinking of the environment, to be exhibited within a focused programming section.Just a few highlights of the exhibition include:&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417652/af1xxnonq7ovtgyexiae.jpg"><figcaption>The April 8 kick-off event is Presented in partnership with Chicago Architecture Biennial</figcaption></figure>• The fair kick's off for VIPs on <a href="https://program.expochicago.com/expo-chgo-kick-off-program-framing-the-moment-on-music-architecture-and-improvisation/">Thursday, April 8 </a>with a special event featuring David Brown (Artistic Director, Chicago Architecture Biennial), Ken Vandermark (Musician), Rosa Barba (Artist), and moderated by John Corbett (Gallerist, Corbett vs. Dempsey), this panel convenes thought leaders from visual art, music, and architectural backgrounds to discuss the ways improvisational techniques influence their diverse practices in the creation of visual, sonic, and constructed spaces. Panelists will explore how improvisational methods impact both collaboration and community.&nbsp;• Friday, April 9 <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/emerging-artists-with-humberto-moro">Humberto Moro</a>, deputy director and senior curator at the Museo Tamayo and EXPO CHICAGO’s EXPOSURE curator, leads a tour of EXPO CHGO ONLINE. Moro will present a selection of works from a range of galleries featured in the EXPOSURE section of the digital exposition, in addition to key pieces from emerging artists throughout the fair.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417653/ezmfnyfkyxdnqarjdstu.jpg"></figure>• Saturday, April 10 – Corbett vs. Dempsey presents the fifth incarnation of its&nbsp;Sequesterfest&nbsp;series, this time as part of the program for EXPO CHGO ONLINE art fair, presented in the Experimental Sound Studio’s miraculous Quarantine Concert series, which has been streaming live music and audio art directly into people’s homes since the outbreak of the pandemic.&nbsp; Sequesterfest&nbsp;5 singles out three members of Wilco – singer and guitarist (and most recently author!)&nbsp;Jeff Tweedy, guitarist&nbsp;Nels Cline, and drummer&nbsp;Glenn Kotche&nbsp;– inviting them to show how a few seasons off-road adds up.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417654/jcvfe4v5iy38f5uybxos.jpg"></figure>• April 12 The Arts Club hosts a panel, <a href="https://program.expochicago.com/panel-for-and-from-the-void-artists-on-making-in-an-empty-institution/">For and From the Void: Artists on Making in an Empty Institution</a>. Unable to host audiences en masse for performances in the actual building, The Arts Club of Chicago opted, during a pandemic-induced hibernation, to explore the generative potential of emptiness. The club invited three artists in three disciplines to ponder the question, “What does one do with an empty institution?” Musician Angel Bat Dawid, Dancer Jasmine Mendoza, and Theater maker Kurt Chiang (with their collaborators Isaiah Collier, Keaton Fox, and Livia Chesley respectively) took on the task of making art for and from a void. The three lead artists, with programmer Jenna Lyle, discuss their discoveries from the process and the inherent contradictions in the original prompt: is an arts institution ever really empty?&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417654/xdv8xhauevtukdzu5fgp.jpg"><figcaption>Ellen Lanyon</figcaption></figure>• Locally, Gray Gallery will be highlighting artist <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ellen-lanyon-a-bit-of-magic">Ellen Lanyon</a> with a solo exhibition of paintings from the late artist's, sold to benefit the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.The Arts Club of Chicago opens its exhibition featuring the work of Turner Prize-nominated artist <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/hurvin-anderson-anywhere-but-nowhere">Hurvin Anderson, Anywhere but Nowhere.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;Of course, if you're local you can visit area galleries all week, as all are open at least by appointment.&nbsp;Enjoy this version of EXPO. Though it is the new normal for now, it's a strong connection to what we used to experience in years past and what we can look forward to again, hopefully some day soon.&nbsp;&nbsp;From the archives:<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/5/expo-chicago-to-move-from-september-to-april-8-11-2021">EXPO CHICAGO to Move from September to April 2021</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2020/9/expo-chicago-s-tony-karman-on-fall-without-a-fair">Tony Karman on Fall without a Fair, Sept 2020</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

EXPO CHGO Online Opens This Week

<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg-hinz-politics/847-million-raised-mid-fall-groundbreaking-set-obama-center?utm_source=breaking-news&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=20210330&amp;utm_content=hero-image">Mid-fall groundbreaking set for Obama Center</a>With more than $800 million in commitments and cash on hand, the Obama Foundation intends to begin construction of the long-planned Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park by mid-fall, officials said today.In a meeting with Crain’s editorial board, foundation Chair&nbsp;Valerie Jarrett and construction chief Lori Healey said that, with only routine city building permits yet to be obtained, land clearance work on the 18-acre site will begin “around Sept. 1,” with actual construction perhaps two months later but definitely before winter.Via Crain's&nbsp;<a href="https://news.wttw.com/2021/04/04/chicagos-arts-community-sees-wave-new-black-leaders">Chicago’s Arts Community Sees Wave of New Black Leaders</a>Chicago’s arts organizations have always been enriched and influenced by the work of Black artists and performers, though they have not always been inclusive of Black voices. And Black leadership in those organizations have historically been even less inclusive.Amid the turbulence of the last year, a wave of new Black leaders has arrived in Chicago’s arts community. Now, they are tasked with navigating some of the city’s best-known institutions through incredibly challenging times for the arts.Via WTTW&nbsp;<a href="https://www.adfwebmagazine.jp/en/art/museum-debt-deprives-us-of-our-future/">Museum Debt Deprives Us of Our Future</a>Art museums across the United States are in a dire financial crisis. As a result of closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, many museums have undertaken drastic measures such as furloughing and laying off staff, selling artwork from their permanent collection, and scaling back programming and exhibitions in order to mitigate massive revenue losses. However, museums rarely acknowledge the extent to which industry financial practices, in particular the use of debt to finance capital projects, endanger their sustainability, especially during times of national and international economic crisis.By Riley Yaxley, ADF Web Magazine&nbsp;<a href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/VAS-Weekly-Newsletter--March-27--2021.html?soid=1102371355349&amp;aid=FAexjWQiHmc">The MCA Blows It</a>Wrapping the corner walls of the entrance to “The Long Dream” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago are the names of the more than 70 local artists exhibiting work in the exhibition. Some of these names belong to my friends and colleagues, and there are others I don’t personally know but greatly admire. Rather than feeling vicariously buoyed by reading these names, and appreciating the institutional recognition of a segment of Chicago’s arts community, I instinctively flinched.By Robin Dluzen&nbsp;&nbsp;Thumbnail image: Diane Christensen and Jeanne Dunning with Steve Dawson, “Birth Death Breath,” ﻿2016, inflatable opera. Installation view, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois&nbsp;

What We're Reading: 4/5

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418881/g9vpyre2dfq8hgi74fqa.jpg"></figure><a href="https://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/?mc_cid=28cea9dbe1&amp;mc_eid=a6ad3ea4a5">The Smart Reopens Next Week</a>On April 8, the Smart Museum of Art will open to the public, offering timed reservations to visit Lust, Love, and Loss in Renaissance Europe, a new exhibition in which passion, violence, and virtue emerge as fundamental, intertwined elements in European artworks of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. In addition, the Museum will be open to University of Chicago classes and individual or small group student research visits coordinated through the Feitler Center for Academic InquiryThe Museum also shared an article from nine UChicago experts discussing the <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/story/what-experts-have-learned-from-covid-19-pandemic-one-year?mc_cid=28cea9dbe1&amp;mc_eid=a6ad3ea4a5">past year's impacts</a> on health, science and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418882/nxy8f21hpmn52rn74gni.png"></figure><a href="https://www.artdesignchicago.org/adcnow/">Art Design Chicago is Back</a>Art Design Chicago&nbsp;is back again with Art Design Chicago Now,&nbsp;a series of free public conversations, hands-on workshops, behind-the-scenes collections tours, and digital storytelling amplifying the voices of Chicago's diverse community of makers―past and present. Details <a href="https://www.artdesignchicago.org/adcnow/">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418883/ct9rctkmcmcfavk5equx.png"></figure><a href="https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/900-N-Lake-Shore-Dr-APT-712-Chicago-IL-60611/3849428_zpid/?">900 N Lake Shore – An Accessible 'Miesien' Home</a>A renovated "12" tier 2 bed / 2 bath unit in the architecturally significant Mies Van Der Rohe building is for sale with a recent price cut.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h1>&nbsp;</h1></body></html>

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